The Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Medical Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran

Abstract

Medicine is a stressful job. It is shown in several studies that decreased clinical function, disturbance in decision making, and the doctor-patient relationship, anxiety, depression, alcohol and substance abuse, and suicide are associated with stress. So, it is important to investigate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical staff. This is a cross-sectional study on the Tehran University of Medical Sciences residents, and 152 residents were surveyed by the DASS-21 questionnaire, which measures the depression, anxiety, and stress level. One hundred fifty-two residents (24.5% male, 75.5% female) with a mean age of 29.6 (SD=2.96) were surveyed. According to this study results, 23% of residents had severe to extremely severe depression, 24.9% had severe to extremely severe anxiety, and 33.8% had severe to extremely severe stress. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among Tehran University of Medical Sciences residents are higher than some other countries and universities, and it could be due to more working pressure in our educational hospitals. However, similar studies in different countries have not similar results, especially about the associated factors; so, more studies should be done, especially with the interventional and socioeconomic considerations, to address these issues.